Meet the future of slot car racing with Anki Drive

Our robot-dominated future starts now.

There were few things greater on Christmas morning than tearing apart the wrapping paper to see a new slot car set. The sound of the plastic cars skirting along the track with the slight pop and snap of the electrical connections pepper my childhood memories. There are some less fond memories of broken cars, snapped track pieces, and mild stab wounds as well.

Now we can relive all those same great memories, with less blood and anger, thanks to the cool kids at Anki. Anki Drive is a new take on the slot car scene using fancy technology to get rid of the fragile track pieces. The cars are also packed with high-end robotics to make things more interesting.

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The cars combine the fun of Mario Kart, weapons and crashes, with physical slot cars. They're programmed to activate "weapons" and aggressive maneuvering when possible to take out competitors. The track itself is a large mat that features written code, and the cars have small cameras mounted to the bottom that can see and read that code to stay on track. Cars are controlled via iOS app, and will actually learn how you drive and how to best the other cars given your style. We are including a few videos below to help you get a better idea of how the whole things works.

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Aside from the beginning of Skynet, this sounds amazing. There are some downsides though.

The track itself is massive; at 102"x42" it's nearly the size of a regulation pool table, so you need some space. Thankfully, the mat will roll up so you can store it easily. Price can also be a hindrance. For $200 you get the track and just two cars. The other two cars are available separately for $70; each. You can have a lot of fun with the $340 it would cost you to snag a full setup, but its also hard to put a price on reliving childhood fun.